Cross Udo

Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, expressed the confidence that the Nigerian team, which would be participating in the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, will excel at the competition.

The President in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, charged the team to go and succeed in their various areas.

He also lauded China for being the only nation in history that has ever hosted two editions of the Olympic Games in one city; the 2008 Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics 2022, both in Beijing.

The statement quoted the President as saying, “On behalf of all Nigerians, President Muhammadu Buhari wishes Nigerian athletes participating in the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games success at the competition.

“President Buhari trusts that Nigerian athletes participating in different events will excel at the competition, surpassing the previous record in PyeongChang, South Korea, in 2018, when the nation competed for the first time.

“Recognising that the Olympic Games is a platform for closer friendship and cooperation between countries, the Nigerian leader sincerely hopes that all athletes, in the pursuit of their Olympic dream, would promote the core values of the Games: excellence, friendship, and respect.

“The President congratulates China on hosting the Winter Olympics, lauding Beijing for making history as the first ‘dual Olympic city’ in the world’s Olympic history, having hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008.

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“As a friendly and brotherly country to Nigeria, President Buhari affirms the support of the Nigerian government and its people to China.

“He believes that with China’s rich experience in organizing international events, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, with the slogan ‘Together for a Shared Future’, will be delivered as a splendid, exceptional and extraordinary Olympic event for the world”, the statement said.